A few years ago a mate of mine was captain of a Nimrod going westbound across the Atlantic. They suffered a lightning strike causing my mate to be temporarily blinded. A ball of lightning appeared in the cockpit, hovered between the two pilots and then gently floated gently backwards through the aircraft. It then suddenly accelerated and disappeared up inside the tail with a loud bang. Most systems seemed to work normally but they diverted as a precaution. On the ground all appeared normal but on closer inspection the next morning they discovered the top of the fin was gone, along with the MAD boom.